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Theo Van Gogh wrote to his brother Vincent on January 31, 1980 to announce the birth of his son. As a means of celebration, Van Gogh, who was extremely close to his younger brother, immediately began to work on a painting for Theo and his wife. In a letter to his mother he wrote, “I started right away to make a picture for him, to hang in their bedroom, big branches of white almond blossom against a blue sky.” The subject was one of his favourite blossoming branches against a blue sky. As a symbol of this new life, Vincent chose an almond tree, which blooms early in Southern regions, announcing the coming of spring as early as February. The bright colour reflects the paintings made in Arles and the dark lines outlining the branches are a feature of the Japanese floral studies that Van Gogh greatly admired.
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